Ann Elise Duncan pitches North Pike past Sumrall to even 4A South State series

SUMRALL – History will have to wait for Sumrall softball.

With a chance to advance to the state finals for the first time, the Bobcats couldn’t get it done.

North Pike rode the pitching of freshman Ann Elise Duncan and clutch hitting for a 3-0 win Friday night in Game 2 of the Class 4A South State finals at the Sumrall Softball Complex.

The win extends the best-of-three series to a deciding third game at 6 p.m. Saturday at Summit. The Jaguars (16-11) are seeking a third state title to go with the championships it won in 2016 and 2017. Sumrall (25-7) must win on the road to keep its dream season alive.

“Honestly, we’re really good on the road this year,” said Sumrall coach Dodie Robertson. “Our batting average on the road is over .400. I’m not scared about being on the road, not scared that we’re not playing here. I like our chances. We’re going to go after it.”

Friday’s outcome was pretty simple to explain. The Bobcats just didn’t generate hits when they had runners in scoring position, and much of the credit for that goes to Duncan, who went the distance, scattering five hits, striking out six and walking four.

“She did a great job for us tonight,” said longtime North Pike coach Sonya Wallace. “She stayed focused and didn’t get rattled in the sixth, but got us out of that inning. Our pitchers have done a great job for us this season, and tonight Ann Elise went out there and battled.”

Robertson went with sophomore Brandi Bond to start, and she worked a clean first inning, but was hit hard in the second.

Senior Alaia Crossley led off with a single, and that was followed by two more singles by freshman Sarah Lawrence and senior Sydney Williams to load the bases. Robertson came out to get Bond back on track, but sophomore Emilee Williams singled to drive in a run.

Robertson turned to freshman Avery Smith, who pitched mostly on the junior varsity team before being promoted to the varsity late in the season.

“Avery has become kind of our go-to in tough spots,” said Robertson. “She’s a surprise to a lot of people because hardly anybody’s seen her. She’s just growing and growing. So we’ve got 100 percent confidence in her. She did a great job.”

Smith quickly got an out when the runner at first left the bag too early and was called out. Two flyouts – the second a diving play on a little popup by Bond, who had moved to third base – got the Bobcats out of the inning with only one run allowed.

Unfortunately for Sumrall, that was all the help Duncan (5-1) needed, although she was challenged in the second, the fourth and the sixth innings.

She got three strikeouts in the second, sandwiched around a pair of singles.

In the fourth, Sumrall loaded the bases on a leadoff single by eighth-grader Ella Robertson, a one-out single by sophomore Ashlyn Burkhalter and a two-out walk. But Duncan got out of it with a popup in the infield.

“When I came out in the first inning, we threw all my pitches,” said Duncan. “My curve hasn’t been working lately, but tonight was the night I found it.

“My screwball was running up on their hands when I wanted it to and the dropball, we got them to beat into the ground or pop it up, because they were out front on it. All my pitches were good tonight, and after the first inning, I knew it was going to be a good night.”

Smith got the job done keeping Sumrall in the game until the top of the seventh. The freshman right-hander only allowed one hit in the third through the sixth innings, before running into trouble in the seventh.

The Bobcats had their best chance of scoring in the bottom of the sixth, loading the bases one out on three walks, with a sacrifice coming after the first free pass.

Wallace briefly considered bringing on senior left-hander Averi Paden to come from first base to pitch, but stuck with Duncan. That faith was rewarded when she got the third out of the inning on a comebacker to the circle.

“I was going to let go in the circle,” said Wallace. “She kept her composure and pulled us through. She’s done that time and time again this season.

“It would be hard to bring in Averi after not having thrown since the beginning of the game, so I just felt like we needed to stay with No. 1 (Duncan).”

The Jaguars thought they’d gotten the third out of the inning on a baserunning mistake when Buckhalter was caught getting too far from second. She was apparently tagged out, but the ruling was overturned because of interference on the infielder.

“When the bases were loaded, I just told myself to relax and go back to my mechanics,” said Duncan. “Just worry about the next pitch and don’t think about anything else. I knew I could do it, no matter what the pressure was.”

North Pike gave her some insurance in the top of the seventh. With one out, Sydney Williams singled and Emilee Williams doubled. Senior Ellyn Williams hit a slow roller that Smith fielded but was unable to get an out at the plate.

After a walk loaded the bases, leadoff hitter junior Gabby Carr hit another slow roller that Bond scooped and threw to the plate. But Emilee Williams beat the throw for the run to make it 3-0.

“They were just a bunch of slow rollers that we just couldn’t get to in time to throw the runners out,” said Robertson. “We probably should have just gone ahead and gotten the outs there, because we got ourselves in a little bind.

“It’s frustrating. Two little bloopers that we couldn’t do anything with.”

Buoyed with the extra cushion, Duncan breezed through the bottom of the seventh in order.

“I think we need to just put this one behind us,” said Burkhalter. “We came out here tonight a little bit flat. We were talking in practice about dogpiling at the end, and we kind of got ahead of ourselves.

“(Saturday), we need to be confident, still, but not get too ahead of ourselves. Just to know that we can do it.”

While the road has been kind to Sumrall this season, Wallace said getting a Game 3 at home is a big advantage, even though Sumrall won Game 1 at Summit 8-6.

“We’re back at home; we’ll go through our usual home-game routine to get ready,” said Wallace. “We just have to lay it all on the line and we’ve got to be ready to go.”